90min

Genoa 1-3 Juventus: Dybala & Ronaldo Net as Old Lady Maintain Four-Point Lead

By Toby Cudworth

Paulo Dybala celebrates with Barcelona-bound Miralem Pjanic.
Paulo Dybala celebrates with Barcelona-bound Miralem Pjanic. / Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
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Juventus maintained their four-point lead at the top of Serie A after comfortably dispatching Genoa 3-1 at Luigi Ferraris Stadium.

The Old Lady had seen their advantage at the top of the table cut to just a point - after Lazio came from a goal down to win at Torino earlier in the day - but Maurizio Sarri's men were worthy winners against a Rossoblù side looking nervously over their shoulders at the relegation zone.

Douglas Costa and Cristiano Ronaldo were both on the scoresheet.
Douglas Costa and Cristiano Ronaldo were both on the scoresheet. / Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images

As expected, Juve were dominant in possession during the opening 45 minutes - enjoying 76% of the ball - and stroked the ball around nicely without really adding much substance to their play. I Bianconeri were predominantly restricted to long range shots at goal, with Mattia Perin comfortably dealing with Cristiano Ronaldo and Federico Bernardeschi's efforts.

It was a different story after the break, however, as Paulo Dybala fired Juventus into the lead just five minutes into the second half. The Argentine showed some of the silky dribbling ability that caught Tottenham's eye last summer, collecting the ball on the edge of the box before curling a precise effort into the corner.

Juventus doubled the lead not long after thanks to a blockbuster effort from Ronaldo, before Douglas Costa curled home a wonderful goal of his own with just under twenty minutes remaining.

With the game effectively over, Juventus introduced Aaron Ramsey and Gonzalo Higuain - the former replacing Miralem Pjanic, who started in midfield despite confirmation of his upcoming move to Barcelona.

Those substitutions seemed to interrupt Juve's pattern of play and Andrea Pinamonti grabbed a consolation for Genoa with 15 minutes remaining.

Despite some late pressure, the visitors held on to re-establish their four-point cushion over Lazio - who again had Ciro Immobile on the scoresheet against Torino.

Ciro Immobile scored again for Lazio, this time against Torino.
Ciro Immobile scored again for Lazio, this time against Torino. / Stefano Guidi/Getty Images

Next time out, Juventus take on Torino - their fierce rivals - while Lazio will hope to keep up the pressure up on Sarri's side with victory over struggling Lecce.